every kid that you see being bad and the parents don’t care and you want to slap the shit out of them , well that kid is either ADHD,ADD, or a parent problem.
its so easy to see it in others, my parents were strick , I guess, cause I didnt act like that.
so that brings up the question. did I get worse?
First of all, there is no actual “ADD”–it’s all ADHD. It can be either Primarily Inattentive, Primarily Hyperactive, or Mixed Type. Of course, it’s all semantic.
One of the criteria in the definition of ADHD is that the symptoms are present in at least two settings. Thus, someone who is easily distractable at school but not anywhere else does not meet the diagnostic criteria.
Another of the criteria for ADHD–and for just about all psychiatric disorders–is that the symptoms must interfere with normal functioning. If the distractability or hyperactivity aren’t a problem for you, then you technically don’t have ADHD. Of course, normal is subjective, and differs from one person to the next. In the same way that a star athlete might aggressively treat a muscle injury that wouldn’t bother a more sedentary person, some people have more of a need for focus than others. (Med students, for example. 
)
Dr. J
DR J,
but I don’t think that it interferes with my normal functioning. In that I still function but I just don’t do things correctly some times. I am in such a rush to get done that I take short cuts and screw a lot of things up.
funny story… I was helping my brother-in-law move this weekend and the first thing was the piano. up the ramp into the moving truck. well I gave it the old heave-ho and the top of the ramp and it flew into the truck , hit the wheel well, broke off a leg, spun aroung hit the wall, broke off a trim piece. well they didn’t let me help with the big screen TV. so in this case it actually helped me out. and my wife doesnt let me do laundry for the same reason (I cant check every piece for pockets and stains and …).
so its more my wife’s problem, and of course the grouchiness is bad for the kids. my wife says I a “passive-aggressive”. I don’t know what that means but I am sure its not a compliment.
Passive agressive means that you’re an asshole to people in an indirect way. For instance, my sister doesn’t like for me to be on the computer. (No, I don’t know why.) But she hates conflict, so she doesn’t say, “Hey, get off the computer.” Instead, she sings, loud and offkey, whenever I get online and she’s in the room. This is passive agressive. She’s just doing her thing (passive)–except it just happens to let her get back at me. (agressive)
I second what Dex said here. All the benefits of ADHD are to YOU. All the negatives are to HER. It’s like someone driving down the road with their stereo all the way up. They’re having a great time, its just everyone around them that’s pissed off. That’s probably why she thinks you’re passive agressive; she feels like you won’t listen to her because you’re getting back at her for something.
On the other hand, the fact that your wife blames your desire to have sex of ADHD probably means the two of you could use some counciling; Ritalin is not going to solve all the problems you seem to have presented here.
–John
justin, did your wife minor in Psych. or something?
she majored in physch and then got her masters in some learning behavioral problem stuff. she’s in special education at school. so she gets all this extreme cases at school (and it is horrible stories, please hug your children tonite and thank GOD). well anyway she brings all this stuff home and then applies it to me. I am not arguing with her though, she is right, I would like to be perfect (energetic, patient, thorough, listening, compassionate) but I am not and have not seen too many people like that.
An aside, I am highly critical of everybody that doesnt do things the way I think they should be done. My wife thinks I look down on everyone but its not that, its just that they aren’t doing the right thing and they dont know it. I don’t do everything “right” but I know that I should do things differently.
Is this part of ADHD or is it just part of being as asshole?
My opinion is mostly inspired by the fact that according to the various symptoms attributed to ADD/ADHD, along with the tests used to diagnose the syndrome itself pretty much indicate that a huge percentage of humanity suffers from ADD/ADHD. I was aware of other symptoms besides lack of concentration, I was merely assuming that all other symptoms are necessarily a result of that deficiency.
As far as thinking it’s totally a hoax, I don’t. I believe the majority of children said to have ADD/ADHD do not. I know countless Ritalin taking children that don’t really seem to have benefited from it at all. My belief is based on personal observation, so you may choose to reject it for that reason alone.
I appreciate your reply, and I understand your anger at repeated ignorance, but my opinion is not likely to change.
I can understand the Hoax question. it does seem that every other kid today has this. what happened ? I have heard sugar, corporal punishment, single parents, working parents,TV,video games,… blamed. On the other hand, I have hear educators brag on how it is finally being addressed after decades of neglect.
If you observe classrooms today, you will see something. the question is whether that is just a bad kid or a kid with a syndrome. my first take is just beat the hell out of them. and then beat their parents if that doesnt work. In my wife’s school (I am being specific as to not be accused of making generalizations) the vast majority of the kids have single parent/broken home/proverty situations. IMHO some kids have this tendency for hyperactivity and without a strong positive home environment, it manifest itself as ADHD or ADD.
“REWARD DEFICIENCY SYNDROME” (RDS)
To qualify myself, I was diagnosed ADD in 1995 at the
age of 55. I underwent 6 hours of testing by a
psychologist.
From my research I came across an article in
American Scientist by Kenneth Blum called “Reward
Deficiency Syndrome”. Simply stated, the theory
goes something like this----Add, Autism, Abnormal
Sexual Behavior, and six other disorders are
characterized by the person not being able to
experience pleasure as the “normal” person does.
Dr. Blum theorizes that this syndrome is genetically
based.
Although I have tried several different drugs, I
do not think this is a good idea for me personally.
I think the above theory has merit. I try to increase
my endorphin level by doing 3 hours of body work
per day, and practicing Karezza (when I can find a
willing partner).
In defense of ADD people, I would challenge non ADD
people to compete with an ADD person when the ADD
person is in a “hyperfocused” state of mind.
jesse (retired male hospital pharmacist)
NickC, you’re right, we probably won’t change your mind – but may I ask you to at least consider another possibility or two?
First, ADD/ADHD is a recognized chemical “short-circuit” in the brain. A person with ADD, when asked to concentrate, shows a lower blood pressure level in one portion of the brain. A person who does not have ADD and is subjected to the same test will show an increase of blood pressure in the same portion. (I lent all my books out to a friend, but I can back this up if you’d like.) The medications prescribed for this disorder compensate for that short circuit, but they do not “fix” or cure it.
Second, medication is only one step. Let me draw a parallel – say you’re a diabetic and you get put on insulin injections, but you do not change your eating habits or monitor your blood sugar. You will get some benefit from the insulin itself, but unless you learn how to control your disease through your behavior, it’s going to continue to be a problem. Same thing for Ritalin – you need to back the meds up with behavioral changes. And many children who are on Ritalin are not getting that part, because their parents can see a marked difference with just the meds, they assume that’s all there is to it.
One other thing – there IS a sharp rise in diagnoses of ADD. But part of that can be attributed to better testing and just more general awareness. I would venture to say that some people on Ritalin should not be - but part of that, too, is due to ignorance on the part of doctors and parents who will grasp at anything that seems like a quick and easy solution. Certainly there are some unethical doctors out there – but not the vast majority.
I must reiterate that teachers in a school setting are not qualified to diagnose ANYTHING. Not even dyslexia. They are trained to look for symptoms, but no doctor is going to medicate a child on his teacher’s say-so.
Absolutely. I am now aware that there is evidence of neurological differences in those people with actual ADD/ADHD. After perusing various ADHD resource sites, I have come to the conclusion that I was right in some ways, and wrong in others. I have been told by at least 2 medical professionals that nearly 20% of the children in America suffer from some form of ADHD. I found this extremely hard to believe, and found numerous sites that supported my opinion. After reading this thread I have attempted to find neutral websites that will simply give me facts. I found a few and the consensus seems to be that the percentage of children with ADHD is actually around 5%. Five percent is still significant, but not nearly has unbelievable as twenty percent.
My skepticism may be unfounded, but I have experienced almost every symptom of ADHD that I have come across. I was able to overcome them by simply trying harder to surpress them. Perhaps the fact that I was able to do this is what seperates me - and the rest of the non-ADHD population - from those with ADHD.
Exactly, and I’ve never heard it put more succinctly.
You got it, NickC.
Just for comparison’s sake, let me describe how ADD feels to me. You know how, when you’re in a restaurant, there’s people talking, music playing, dishes being put into buspans, maybe a little noise from the parking lot? You sit a few minutes, and gradually, you can block out those noises and concentrate on the person you’re dining with, and what he or she has to say, right? After awhile, it’s no longer a conscious effort to not hear the distractions… you simply filter them out. Your brain can discern which stimulus is the priority stimulus. Sure, you might get distracted by, say, a dish breaking, but you can quickly refocus back to your companion and forget about it.
I can’t do that. I hear the person I am with, I sing along mentally with the music being played, I wonder when the construction in the parking lot will be finished and when that dish breaks, I will spend the next several minutes wondering who broke it, and why, and think of several funny comments I could make about breaking dishes. To me, unless I am medicated or concentrating on “flipping my switch”, ALL stimuli is EQUAL stimuli.